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Students showcase academics and forensics as district unveils 'Portrait of a Graduate'
Summary
Middle- and high-school students presented end-of-year achievements and co-curricular successes while a district committee outlined a five‑attribute 'Portrait of a Graduate' to guide K–12 academic and career planning.
Students from Chippewa Falls Middle School and the high school forensics team highlighted improvements in academics, attendance and school culture during the school board meeting Tuesday, and district staff presented a new 'Portrait of a Graduate' intended to shape curriculum and career-planning work across K–12.
At Triple Falls Middle School, Principal Derek Koonsman said the building had cut major office discipline referrals by roughly a third over eight years and reduced out-of-school suspension to about 4.9 percent, while attendance was near 94 percent. "When behaviors are down, students can focus," Koonsman said, outlining restorative practices and follow-up instruction the school uses after major incidents. Assistant principal Rachel Arndt described schoolwide efforts such as daily 'cardinal time' homerooms and a Tier 1 social-emotional learning curriculum designed to foster belonging.
High school students with the forensics team described rapid program growth and competitive success. Team members reported expanding from a handful of competitors in earlier years to 30 members in 2025, with multiple state qualifiers and top finishes. "Forensics helps you with public speaking, job and college applications," student Lucy Christiansen said, noting how coaches supported students in learning presentation skills rather than prescribing topics.
Separately, a district Academic & Career Planning subcommittee presented the Portrait of a Graduate, a framework of five attributes staff said will guide instruction and student supports: continuous learner, resilient thinker, effective communicator, critical thinker and engaged citizen. The subcommittee said the portrait will be paired with a district ACP scope-and-sequence and with the Student Success Dashboard so co‑curricular engagement and career credentials can be tracked.
Superintendent Holmes and board members praised the student presentations and said the portrait will help align classroom instruction with extracurricular and career opportunities. Next steps identified by the subcommittee include creating and sharing a graphic of the attributes, promoting the portrait across the district and developing a scope-and-sequence to embed the attributes into curriculum and supports.
